Improvement in water-wheels



anni Y didnt,

WILLIAM N. WHIP'PLE,

or urnas,- newl vonk.r

Letters Patent' No. 112,100, dated February 21, 18'(1.

IMPRovEMENr iN WATER-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters ?atent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern.-

Bc it known that I, WILLIAM N. WHIPPLE, of Niles,'iu the county receive the impact of the water tangentially, and con-- sists in a peculiar construction of vthe buckets that adapts the wheel to operate successfully either ina horizontal or vertical. position; andralso in a construction ofthe bottom plate that enables the wheel, when placed horizontally, to discharge the water more readily than heretofore.

In the drawingy A represents the curb;

B, the wheel;

S, the shaft;

D F, the bearings of the shaft and I a a, the bolts that fasten together the diterent parts of the curb.

0f the wheel, O is the upper and C the lower plate or disk, the two being connected together by the bolts b b, the bucketfplates, and, if necessary, the shaft Si.

The buckets are represented at E `E, andare formed by means of lon'g'plates e e and short plates c c, arfA ranged alternately so as to form a sharp'fangle at their outer ends, andabutting against each other at their inner. ends, as clearly shown in'ig.2, whereby theymutually support each other and serve lto strengthen the wheel.

The bolts Z1 l), it will be observed, pass through triangular spaces formed between the plates e e', so that as the nuts are tightened up the top and bottom plates are forced against anrunv bearing surface all` around the bolts, whereby great strength and firmness are imparted to the whole structure. A

' At the outer ends of theplates e' e' they abut against plates ae, slightly curved, and set-so that their plane is nearly perpendicular to that of the longerv plates e c.

'lhe Vbottoxn' plate ofthe wheel port them, being provided with cam-shaped projections cc. In other words, it is not -a perfectcircle, as it would be if its ontlinescoincided with th dotted lines n z, figr2, but betweeuthe front edge of one plate, c,'and the rear side of the -next it is' cut away, `as shown at o o o.

is adapted to sup-4' It will be observed that noue of the bucket-plates Y are radial, those represented at ee' being slightly and those at e e much inclined, while those shown at e'f e" are nearly tangential. g

The inclination of the longer plates e e is the main point in this` part of the construction ofmy wheel, its design being to present these plates lsquarely to the imp act of the water, soas to utilize its fullforce.

`The inclination of the plates e' is such as to cause the length ofthe buckets, measured on the plates e, to equal the width of the chute, and to prevent the waterfrom wasting its force byexerting it iu a direction toward the center of the wheel, as would Ybe the case were the plates c not employed.

'ihe function of the plates c is, of course, to arrest the water in its effort to escape at once from theperiphery of the wheel, and cause itsforce in that drection to be exerted rather upon the wheel itself than upon the curb. .f l yTheobject of cutting away the disk G' at o o o is to enable the water to escape themore readily over Athe outer `edge of said bottom plate, as soon' as the bucket e shall, bythe rotation ofthe wheel, haveescaped from the curb.

"The inclination of the parts'e e* eaud the construction of the plate- C' further subserve the purpose of enabling the spent water toescape readily, in` the following manner: y

The 'centrifugal force exerted upon said water while in the bucket, by the rapid rotation of the wheel throws a portion of it the plates e" c", and thence it is forcedbackward, escapingat once over the edge of the'bottom plate `by reason of the part o o having been cut away, as will be readily seen by an inspection of iig.,2.

The water at this part of ',the'wheels revolution is not allowed to back into the sharp angle formed by plates e e, near the center ofthe wheel, whereby itV would lose the momentum that its weight would have if 'held near the outer edge of the wheel; but is act- `ually held away from the centerof -the wheel by the plate e', so that it is prevented from centripetal action, and the Whole momentum of its weight, acting with the longest possible leverage, isattained, and when its fulleifect has -thus been exertedI upon the wheel thewater is discharged with great velocity, and the bucket is entirely freed from it during the remainder of the revolution. i

'The effect of the. plates e' e' is therefore threefold, to wit, to furnish additional bearing surfaceibr the top and bottom plates around the' fastening-bolts l1 I1, to limit the 'length of the bucket to the width of the chute, and to prevent the spent water from back -4 ing toward the Vcenter of the wheel, and holdit'away against the inner surface of i froml the center, so as' to utilize its momentum and. expel it .swiftly from the-bucket when no longer needed.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new therein', and desire to secure by Letters Patent,l is-f- Y l. In'a, water-wheel, the plate C', when formed with the recesses-o o and Athe projections @substantially as and'for thep'uipose specified. 'l

2;'Tl1e arrangement of the plntese ef', in conne@- ton with the plates e e', the bolts b b, and the top and bottom plates C C, the whole being constructed substantially as vand for the purposes set-forth.'

' WTLLIAM N. WHIFPLE.

y Witnesses:

.,N. K. ELLSWORTH, E; A. ELLSWORTH. 

